A Year After Abruptly Ousting Tony Varona As Dean, Miami President Names David Yellen New Law School Dean

Miami Herald, UM Hires Cornell Law Grad as its Law School Dean, Following Tumult After Varona Demotion:

About a year after abruptly ousting Anthony Varona as law school dean, University of Miami President Julio Frenk hired his replacement: David Yellen, a New Jersey native who has devoted most of his career to reforming the justice system and leading two other law schools.

Yellen, 64, who earned his bachelor’s in politics from Princeton University and his law degree from Cornell University, will start July 1, according to the Thursday posting from the Coral Gables-based private university.

“I’m very excited,” said Yellen. “The University of Miami School of Law, I’ve known and admired for decades, so I’m really excited to join them.”

Yellen will move to South Florida in June from Colorado, where he has served since last June as the CEO of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, a research organization at the University of Denver. ...

The turnover of UM’s law school deans began when Frenk announced last May that Varona, an openly gay man of Cuban heritage, would step down as dean. Frenk’s abrupt decision to demote the popular Varona — without prior consultation of the faculty, alumni or students — led to an outcry in the legal community, locally and nationally. ...

Asked if he worries about the long-lasting impact of what happened last May at UM, Yellen said he doesn’t. “I don’t know Tony,” he said. “It’s not a concern at all. I’ve been in higher education long enough to know that sometimes for all kinds of reasons things don’t work out with one set of relationships and that doesn’t preview what the next set of relationships are going to be like.”

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

• University Of Miami President Fires Tony Varona After Less Than Two Years As Dean; Tenured Faculty Protests Decision; Varona's Lawyer Says He Will Contest The Firing (May 26, 2021)
• Outrage Grows Over Firing Of Tony Verona After Less Than Two Years As Miami Dean. Did Minor Declines In U.S. News Ranking And Bar Passage Rate Play A Role? (May 27, 2021)
• More Fallout Over Miami Dean's Firing: Faculty Senate Unanimously Urges Reinstatement; Vice-Dean Resigns; University Agrees To Meet With Faculty; Dean Claims President Defamed Him (May 28, 2021)
• Miami Law Alumni Slam Firing Of Dean; AALS Section Demands Investigation To Determine Whether Tony Varona Was Targeted Due To His Gay And Hispanic Status (May 29, 2021)
• University Of Miami Faculty Senate Unanimously Condemns Firing Of Dean Tony Varona And Urges His Reinstatement (May 30, 2021)
• SALT Calls For Review Of Dismissal Of University Of Miami Law Dean Tony Varona, 'UM’s First Latinx And Openly Gay Dean' (May 31, 2021)
• Was This Law Dean Fired Because He's Gay? His Supporters Want Answers (June 2, 2021)
• University Of Miami President Doubles Down On Decision To Fire Tony Varona After Less Than Two Years As Dean (June 5, 2021)
• Miami Searches For Interim Dean After Controversial Firing Of Tony Varona, Who Sought To Reduce Overhead Tax Law School Pays To University (June 14, 2021)
• Tony Varona Takes The High Road In His Farewell Message After Being Fired Less Than 2 Years Into His Deanship (June 30, 2021)
• University Of Miami Appoints Acting Law School Dean; Faculty Demands Investigation Into Firing Of Tony Varona (July 1, 2021)
• Sixteen Miami Faculty Demand Answers To Questions Surrounding Firing Of Dean Tony Varona (July 6, 2021)
• Miami Law Community Seeks Answers On Firing Of Tony Varona As Acting Dean Takes Over (July 11, 2021)
• Nell Newton Named Interim Dean At Miami (Aug. 16, 2021)
• Former Miami Law School Dean Tony Varona Named Seattle Dean (Feb. 19, 2022)